The Friendship Conundrum
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Best friends, she said. Best. Friends. Dolph Ziggler is out to prove that he and AJ Lee are anything but best friends...Dolph/AJ...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people portrayed in this story. WWE owns the characters and the real people own themselves. This story is tame at the beginning, but won't be by the end, but don't worry, I'll let you know when it'll change.**

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A/N: Hello again, Zigglee fans! Another new story here! I was talking with Carly, and we were running scenarios through our heads, and a fic sort of came out of it. So this is it. It takes place after the SummerSlam match, and I think that's all you need to know.

Oh, and it's rated T right now, but it will be eventually moving into M territory, just so you know, anyways, I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review letting me know if you think I should continue. And if you want to be brutal, I'm totally fine with that. :)

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Best friends.

He wasn't even sure how two words could slap him in the face so hard, but there they were, smacking him harder than anyone ever could in the ring. He licked his lips a little bit and stared down at the mouth the words had just come from, in a lilting, sympathetic voice. Sympathy was the enemy of Dolph Ziggler, and her sympathy felt like fires burning along his skin, cracking it and fissuring it until he was just burning embers soon reduced to ash.

"Dolph…" The tone of her voice grated on every last nerve until he simply swallowed down the disappointment and hurt. "I didn't—"

"No, we're best friends, and that's cool," he told her, pushing down the bile that rose when he said those two damning words. "It's cool, I mean, I guess I probably just saw too much from this storyline, you know, and that's probably my fault."

She reached for his hand, but he jerked it away from her because touching her right now would be the worst possible thing. It was best to leave their last touch as the slap she gave him in the ring a short while ago because that's what all this felt like, a slap to the face. He'd thought…how could he have misinterpreted everything so wrong between them? How could he not see that she saw a best friend while he saw…so much more?

He'd had opportunities with other women, so many opportunities with other women who would have been more than willing to be "more than friends" with him. And he'd turned them down. Every single time the possibility of more came up, his brain would flit right back to the girl who was only playing his girlfriend, and he'd give pause, and he'd think it through, think about what the other side of any encounter with some other woman might do to his chances with AJ, and he'd stopped himself, and oh, sometimes, it was very hard, but then he'd get a call from her or a tweet from her, and he'd be reminded of why she was so very worth it.

Except he'd been grossly wrong in thinking that they were both just waiting for this storyline to be over before they took the next step. He'd been going along for months now thinking they shared the same silent agreement that when all this was over, they would stop being professional and start being together. He thought the logical step after their onscreen break up would be their off-screen beginning. Maybe he shouldn't have made that such a silent agreement so he and AJ might be on the same page instead of completely different books in completely different libraries in completely different states.

"I didn't want it to be like this, and I'm sorry," she pleaded with him now, hoping he would see her side of the story, but he didn't because when he looked at her, he saw a woman so perfect for him that she blotted out all the women who came before. And he knew that because he'd tried to go back to women who came before just to forget her, and AJ's star shone so brightly that the rest became inky blackness.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Dolph shrugged lightly, but he was heavy-weighted at the shoulders. He always talked about the chip that rested on his shoulder, well, the other one was now carrying a mountain. "I better get showered, I really want to see the ending of the Daniel/Cena match, should be interesting."

"Okay," AJ nodded.

"Plus, I have that Mick Foley show that I'm going to with Jen," he said, and he wished he was going with some other female that wasn't friends with both of them so he could at least try to make her jealous. Yes, that was what he was reduced to, hoping he could incite some sort of reaction from her by bringing up another female. He'd always thought he saw jealousy on her face whenever he went out with some other woman, but he must have mistook nothing for everything.

"Oh yeah, don't let me keep you," she told him. She stared at him for a second, and it wasn't like he could look away because her face haunted him even when they were thousands of miles apart. She stared down at the ground for a moment before she quickly leaned up and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him for just a second.

He knew she meant well, knew this was her own AJ-brand of trying to make things better, not knowing that she was making things so much worse. One hug from her and his body became alive. He'd been so unhappy with this storyline, the only times he felt like himself were the times around her, and now that it was over, the one thing he looked forward to was a pipe dream, and her body pressed against his, both sweaty and tired from their match, was torture personified.

He reached up and unwrapped her arms from around her neck, reminiscent of their onscreen breakup and he gently put them down, "I better go, AJ," he told her, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you will, you see me every week," she told him, trying to make a joke out of it, but neither laughed. He loved her laugh too. It was the first thing he fell for because it always came so easily. She laughed so much, and his love of comedy…but that was silly, she probably laughed at everyone, and here he thought he was special.

Nope, he was just the best friend.

He trudged his way back to the locker room, finding it pretty much deserted because everyone was watching the main event. It was better that way, meant he didn't have to talk to anyone after the rejection he just suffered. He grabbed his shower stuff, and went into the showers, his flip-flops echoing against the tiled floor and walls, reminding him that he was just a single guy who loved the girl who considered him her best friend.

"_I love you like a best friend because you're my best friend, I can't lose that."_

What did that even mean? Can't lose that? He wouldn't go anywhere if he was with her? He wouldn't _stop_ being her best friend. He would just be the best friend she gets to have sex with, and in his opinion, that was not a bad deal, not a bad deal at all. In fact, he'd call that a pretty sweet deal. He could love her and be with her, and they could still hang out and do the nerdy things she loved and the funny things he loved. Everyone thought they were a couple already, so why not?

He tried to stop thinking about, overanalyzing it as he showered and got dressed. The locker room was still empty, and he was still thankful for that. He put all his things away before heading to the closest monitor to watch the end of the show. There were a couple people watching, and it allowed him to kind of fade into the background, which was not his usual wanted place, but right now, it was perfect for him.

Everyone was so focused on the match they didn't notice him until after it was all over and a WWE camera was chasing him as he was trying to leave. He gave a short interview, not even remembering much of what he said, but he was angry, and he just said whatever came to mind, not caring that it probably wasn't good business to call out management. He felt like Daniel though. He felt like a guy who was pushed to the top only to be pushed right back down to the bottom, but at least Daniel would get there soon, he wasn't even sure when he would get another World Title shot, let alone a WWE title shot.

The comedy served as a buffer for the evening, taking him away from it for a little while. For the shortest of times, he was able to forget dark-haired women who thought of him as nothing more than a best friend. He loved comedy for that. He loved that you could lose yourself in the rolling laughter in a packed room or through a joke that you didn't quite get and had to process for a moment. He provided him an escape he desperately needed, and the mingling after the show allowed him to be around people and not her. He just didn't want to be around _her_.

"That girl is checking you out," Jen said over his shoulder. Dolph looked over and indeed, there was a woman checking him out. He felt flattered, and he could very well go over there and say hello, talk her up, and he could probably score her tonight. It'd be that easy for him. It could be that easy for him.

"Nice," he said simply.

Jen poked him in the side, "Whipped."

"What?"

"For AJ, you're whipped for her, don't think we _all_ haven't noticed," Jen said, "well, no, okay, no, we haven't all noticed, just all the women with our great intuitions."

"Nope, she's just my best friend," he said, knowing he should go over there and prove AJ didn't have a hold on him, not anymore. She thought of him as her best friend, and best friends were free to date other people, any people, all people. Except she did have a hold, and so he stayed put. "I don't have time for that, I have Raw in Anaheim tomorrow, and I'm exhausted, and I'm—"

"Oh, you," Jen said, "best friends? Best friends? I don't think so. If you're best friends then…no, you're just not."

And it was that conversation that stuck with him the rest of the night.

It stuck with him as he rode back to the hotel. It stuck with him as he rode the elevator up to his room, passing her door along the way and trying not to glance at it (he did, he glanced for a long moment, willing it to magically open). It stuck with him as he pushed open his own door and kicked off his Converse (he bought them with her). It stuck with him as he got ready for bed, and it stuck with him as he climbed into said bed, and it stuck with him as he turned off the light.

Then it was just his thoughts.

Then it was just his thoughts and the darkness of night.

"_We just have so much fun together, and I do love spending time with you, I really, really do."_

"Yeah, spending time together," Dolph muttered to himself, moving so his hands rested behind his head.

"_I don't let many people in, which is huge for me."_

"But you can't let me in a little further," he spat out, wishing he had taken someone back to his room with him. Anything, anyone would be better than the specter of AJ from earlier this evening. How he pulled her aside after his match, careful to be out of earshot, to tell her that he wanted to take her out formally before her eyes widened and she backed up a few steps so as to give her space to wind up for the death blow.

"_You mean so much to me. You have wormed your way into my life."_

"But not your heart, can't have that," he continued his bitter conversation with his memory of her. Right now, he could be as angry and bitter as he wanted to be while the him from earlier just tried to save face. But there was nobody around now to save face for. "Can't have the heart."

"_I'm sorry if you've thought differently, if you've thought there was more."_

"If I _thought_ there was more..." He ran his tongue against the front of his mouth. "Thought there was more? If I _thought there was more._" No, he refused to believe that it was only his imagination. He could not believe that everything he felt was one-sided. He could not believe that there wasn't one, two, three hundred, four thousand, five million seconds where she didn't feel something for him.

There was more.

There was so much more…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and everything for the first chapter, I really appreciate it. Reviews really help me carve out a direction for the story, so anyone who leaves one is really helping me. Anyways, the way this story is going to work is every chapter is a different moment, just to let you know so you know what to expect. Hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

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**THQ Panel 2012**

"So we're stuck at the end, huh?"

AJ looked up and saw it was Dolph talking to her, not that she wouldn't have known from the voice. She smiled up at him kindly, "Yeah, I guess they wanted all the cool people first."

That got an unexpected laugh at him. "I was going to make the joke that they were sticking the losers at the end, but I like your version much, much better."

"It strokes that massive ego of yours, I was pretty sure it would," she responded, and he appreciated the joke and how quickly she was able to respond to him.

To say he didn't know AJ would be a bit of an understatement. Despite having a few segments and matches with her, their conversations were limited and based simply on what they had to go out there and do. They were on totally different spectrums as people, so he had no occasion to speak to her very much. It wasn't like he hated her or anything, they just didn't have much in common therefore not much to really talk about.

"I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had that didn't involve work," Dolph told her and she pretended to think about it for a second, tapping her chin.

"You know, I think you may be right, why is that? Oh, that's right, you think I'm the world's biggest nerd, right? And you can't be seen talking to nerds, it would hut your reputation as the coolest guy in the room."

"I prefer show-stealer, I just don't limit myself to matches," he told her, smiling without his teeth. She rolled her eyes playfully at him, "And this is why we aren't friends, I see you rolling your eyes at me."

"You have got to be the world's biggest douchebag," AJ turned to him now, facing him. "That's why we aren't friends, we sort of, kind of hate each other. The world's biggest nerd and the world's biggest douchebag cannot coexist within the same time frame."

"Is that a comic book reference?" he asked suspiciously, pretending to stare at her. "I don't have time for chicks who are into comic books, not, you know, when there's a real world out there."

"Says the guy who's about to sit on a panel and talk about video games. If they ask you something about the game, you're going to draw a complete blank, and I won't help you because I want to see you fail at being anything even remotely relatable," she told him, having a difficult time keeping the smile off her face.

"Oh, come on, my Atari and Nintendo references are going to kill it with the geeky crowd," he told her with a wink. "They'll appreciate that I know my history."

"And not even realize that you can't make any modern references because you're too busy…what is it that you do on your downtime?"

"You want to know a secret?" he leaned in a little closer.

She leaned in closer to him, "Not really."

He pulled back and laughed, throwing his head back. He liked her spunk. How did he not know about it before? Oh, that's right, he was too busy not talking to her because they had nothing in common. But he found himself enjoying this conversation in this cramped backstage room with all the other panel stars milling about. She could have easily found someone else to talk to, Punk was here, and he knew that he was AJ's mentor of sorts, but he kind of hoped she wouldn't go away so he could continue talking to him.

"I read, mostly. I know people think I'm going out every weekend, probably bringing home some chick every night, you know, but that's not really me at all. I like to read…books, you know, with words and no pictures," he told her and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Really any kind that I find interesting."

"So now you're not a douchebag, you're just a dork?" she wondered. "I think I can live with that, maybe…wait a second, are any of these so-called 'books' really porn magazines?"

"Why would I need a porn magazine when the entire internet is filled with porn?" he asked her and she blushed fiercely. "And now I know a way to make you blush, duly noted. So, you're really going for the whole GM look, aren't you?"

"I think I look good, very professional," she told him, dusting the front of her suit off. "I have to look the part, right? Do you know how difficult it was finding things in my size though? I thought I was going to have to go to a tailor, and I don't need some weirdo cupping my butt and trying to measure it."

"I'll volunteer to do that," he told her, pretending to look around her body. "Pretty cute."

"Don't you even dare," she pointed at him, shaking her head. "Besides, if anyone here has a noteworthy butt, it's you."

"So you _have_ looked at my butt, great, another thing to note about you," Dolph smirked, and she blushed again. She looked away, biting her lip like she was trying to think of a comeback. "It's okay, you're not the first, you won't be the last."

"I think everyone has looked at your butt because you're always putting it out there," AJ said, "so how could anyone not be looking at it, Mr. Ziggle Wiggle."

"You like it, don't you? Do you want one right now?"

"No!" she told him. "You're the worst, this is why we're not friends."

"Why aren't we though? I think you're kind of cool if we're being honest, and I love your work, and we're both huge wrestling fans, why aren't we friends, Miss April?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Miss April?"

"I'm a fan of professional wrestling, of course I've seen some of your stuff," he told her, "don't look so surprised, I know how good of a wrestler you really are. I keep up."

"Well, I'm slightly flattered, of course I've seen every incarnation of Nick Nemeth," she responded, winking at him. "So, I guess this is the start of a mediocre and weird friendship?"

"Nothing about me is mediocre, _nothing_," he said, nodding his head slowly so she would get his double meaning, which she got immediately. He was slowly getting used to her face wearing that mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"Okay, you guys, we're ready to go," a handler said, coming up to them, "we'll do individual intros then you go to your seats, not too difficult."

AJ turned to the front and was introduced first, making her way across the stage. Dolph was next, and he followed her out there. The panel itself was fun and entertaining, and he found that he liked AJ more and more, which was strange considering they didn't really talk. He didn't have anything to do after the individual interviews after this was over, so after that was through, he sought AJ through the crowd and found her just finishing up an interview of her own. He watched as she thanked the interviewer then made his move, catching her elbow, surprising her as she turned to him.

"Scares easily."

"You don't just randomly grab a girl's arm, you weirdo," she chastised him, pressing her hand to her heart. "What's going on?"

"It's almost lunch, what are your plans?"

"I didn't have any."

"So, why don't you let me take you to lunch, foster this burgeoning friendship," he offered.

"Is this code for taking me up to your hotel room and having sex with me?" she asked, pretending to look at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it means," he told her in the most serious voice he could muster at the moment. "Don't worry though, I'll give you something to eat—"

"Oh my God," she stopped him in his tracks, "don't even finish that sentence, do not even finish that sentence!"

It took him a moment, but then he realized what she must have thought he meant and he quickly corrected her, "No, no, no, _no_. Oh Jesus, no, that's, that's not…that's not what I meant. I meant food, I would give you food, oh my God, whoa, where is _your_ mind at!"

AJ started laughing hysterically and fell forward against him, her forehead resting on his chest as she kept laughing. She wasn't even sure if she could stop right now. He started to laugh because the whole situation was too funny not to just laugh at how ridiculous the two of them were right now. He bowed his head a little and started laughing in earnest.

"No, stop laughing!" she said between her guffaws. "No, stop! You're only making me laugh harder!"

"You have to stop first!" he continued laughing, finding her presence against his body a nice change. Usually a woman was trying to throw himself at him, not just laughing against him innocently. He liked this woman. He thought she was funny, and with him, that was really half the battle.

"I can't!" she protested, pulling away finally, her face completely red from laughing. "Okay, okay, I'm good, I'm good. Is my makeup okay?"

"No, you have raccoon eyes."

"Stop, I'm not going out to lunch with you if I look bad."

"Awesome, I'm getting laid today," he said, doing a little, very lame dance. She pushed against his stomach. "What? I thought you understood the code."

"I am not going to be your friend after this," she told him, covering her face. "You've ruined everything with your dirty behavior."

"Usually that makes everything better," he told her, pressing his hand to her lower back. "Come on, there's got to be some restaurant around here. I figure if I can't plow you with something else, I can plow you with food."

"Note to self, Nick likes to make dirty jokes _all_ the time," AJ said, glaring up at him. He laughed and wrapped his arm casually around her shoulder as they started to walk out of the room and into the sunlight outside the building.

"You know you love it."

"Why do you think I avoided you?"

"Because you couldn't stand to be around my dashing good looks for longer than a few seconds because you had to resist the urge to jump me and shove your tongue down my throat," he said casually and she just shook her head. Dolph could tell that she liked him, even with all the dirty jokes and innuendo, he could tell that it didn't bother her. If he even had the slightest indication it did, he would immediately knock it off. He wasn't one to make someone feel uncomfortable, especially a woman. He liked women, not in the sense that he wanted to sleep with all of them, but he had a lot of female friends, and he liked hanging out with them. AJ was someone he didn't know very well, but found that he wanted to get to know her better.

She was doing a great job with her character, and she seemed fun. He'd been friends Kaitlyn for a while now, and she was always talking about how fun AJ was, so why not learn that for himself? So far, he was having a great time, and they weren't even at lunch yet. Once outside, he took his arm off from around her lest anyone see them and get the wrong idea. The internet was a dangerous place nowadays.

"You've caught me," she said, "I'm completely in awe of your looks."

"Knew it," he told her, "but don't worry, you're pretty cute yourself."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did the show-stealer, the girlfriend-stealer, Mr. Dolph Ziggler just admit that someone else was cute? Alert the media, this is a first!"

"No, it's Nick Nemeth, toned down version of Dolph Ziggler saying this," he told her, "and he thinks you're cute."

"Boys will say anything to get into a girl's pants after lunch."

"Did it work?" She turned around and looked at him, walking backwards as she did. She gave him the once over, scrutinizing him, taking him all in.

"Nope."


End file.
